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Ripped off - what can I do (if anything)?
pimento
Posts: 6,243 Forumite
My son has been ripped off and I'm trying to find out if he has any redress at all.
He wanted to buy a ticket for the Reading Festival for his friend who didn't have one and who was working offshore so unable to do it himself.
He posted on a Reading Festival page on Facebook that he was looking for a ticket and was contacted by a Facebook user who said he had one for sale. The old story - wouldn't/couldn't take PayPal so the guy said he would take half the money (£100) by bank transfer then he would send the ticket and then my son could pay the balance after the ticket was received.
I had no idea this was going on and he's an adult so he had no reason to tell me but I would have advised him not to do this, but...
Anyway, you can probably guess what happened. The guy sent his bank details, my son sent him £100 by bank transfer, the guy said he had posted the ticket and then promptly blocked my son on Facebook. No ticket arrived.
Ostensibly, the Facebook profile for the thief looks alright. Several hundred friends, a semi-open page with loads of festival photos going back several years, actual photos of himself using what appears to be his real name. We know the approximate area he lives and have his bank account details.
Is there anything at all my son can do? I'm furious that he has lost £100 and even if there is no chance of getting his money back I would be prepared to spend a few bob to give this joker a CCJ.
A search of 192.com hasn't definitively found him.
Is what he has done a crime? Would the police make any effort to find him?
I really don't want to let this guy get away with it. For all we know he's done it to 20 people.
Any ideas/advice? Thanks
He wanted to buy a ticket for the Reading Festival for his friend who didn't have one and who was working offshore so unable to do it himself.
He posted on a Reading Festival page on Facebook that he was looking for a ticket and was contacted by a Facebook user who said he had one for sale. The old story - wouldn't/couldn't take PayPal so the guy said he would take half the money (£100) by bank transfer then he would send the ticket and then my son could pay the balance after the ticket was received.
I had no idea this was going on and he's an adult so he had no reason to tell me but I would have advised him not to do this, but...
Anyway, you can probably guess what happened. The guy sent his bank details, my son sent him £100 by bank transfer, the guy said he had posted the ticket and then promptly blocked my son on Facebook. No ticket arrived.
Ostensibly, the Facebook profile for the thief looks alright. Several hundred friends, a semi-open page with loads of festival photos going back several years, actual photos of himself using what appears to be his real name. We know the approximate area he lives and have his bank account details.
Is there anything at all my son can do? I'm furious that he has lost £100 and even if there is no chance of getting his money back I would be prepared to spend a few bob to give this joker a CCJ.
A search of 192.com hasn't definitively found him.
Is what he has done a crime? Would the police make any effort to find him?
I really don't want to let this guy get away with it. For all we know he's done it to 20 people.
Any ideas/advice? Thanks
"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." -- Red Adair
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Comments
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Report him to the police.
Nothing you can do via his bank.Never ASSUME anything its makes a>>> A55 of U & ME <<<0 -
All we have of him is a Facebook profile and a bank account number. Is that enough? (for the police)"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." -- Red Adair0
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Well you don't know that the bank account number belongs to the person who owns the Facebook profile, he could have been hacked. The police can determine that though. What he did was fraud, and as you say he could have done it to others.0
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All we have of him is a Facebook profile and a bank account number. Is that enough? (for the police)
It's a start...
Could you use a fake fb account to pose as someone wanting a ticket then ask for his address to send cash?Should've = Should HAVE (not 'of')
Would've = Would HAVE (not 'of')
No, I am not perfect, but yes I do judge people on their use of basic English language. If you didn't know the above, then learn it! (If English is your second language, then you are forgiven!)0 -
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Is that legal?
Why wouldn't it be? I'm not sure what law would be broken! It's just gaining useful formation and a little innocent cyber stalking.Should've = Should HAVE (not 'of')
Would've = Would HAVE (not 'of')
No, I am not perfect, but yes I do judge people on their use of basic English language. If you didn't know the above, then learn it! (If English is your second language, then you are forgiven!)0 -
He has a fairly common name spelled a bit differently and I thought he'd be easy to find on 192.com. Drat.
Maybe it's just as well, I might not have been able to stop myself driving round there and telling his fortune for him."If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." -- Red Adair0 -
He has a fairly common name spelled a bit differently and I thought he'd be easy to find on 192.com. Drat.
Maybe it's just as well, I might not have been able to stop myself driving round there and telling his fortune for him.
Lol! Well, if you can get the address then you can send a letter before action to get the money back!
Try viewing his fb account using someone elses to see if you can find anything out!Should've = Should HAVE (not 'of')
Would've = Would HAVE (not 'of')
No, I am not perfect, but yes I do judge people on their use of basic English language. If you didn't know the above, then learn it! (If English is your second language, then you are forgiven!)0 -
Try viewing his fb account using someone elses to see if you can find anything out!
I've tried that using my own profile. I would send him a friend request but I'm not his usual friend demographic and I share a surname with my son so he might smell a rat.
I suppose I can Google the sort code of the Lloyds TSB account number he gave and see if it's geographically close to where he told my son he lives."If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." -- Red Adair0 -
Googling a phone number (if you have one) can be fruitful, I needed a location the other day. After a google of her mobile number popped up tons of free ads with the area, maps and photos of the house (just innocent - she was offering freebies that I could recycle but sadly she lived too far away for me to collect.)0
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